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Artists in the Auburn
Artists in the Auburn: The Grand Theatre's development program for London-based artists is back for a second season! The program was created to increase the Grand's efforts on connecting with established and emerging theatre artists living in London and the surrounding area, and consists of four exciting pillars:
1. A season-long Playwrights Lab, led by director, dramaturge, and Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake.
2. A series of hands-on Workshops offered by some of the top theatre artists in Canada, all currently based in southwestern Ontario.
3. A Speaker Series designed for indie, emerging, and community theatre participants to build their practical theatre skills.
4. Rental space available on the Auburn Stage for independent productions, workshops, lectures, and other gatherings.
Whether you are a professional artist, an emerging artist, a participant in community arts, or simply curious about getting started, this program is for you! Keep reading to learn more:
After a thrilling launch in 2024, The Grand Theatre is proud to announce the return of the Cascade Playwrights’ Lab for the upcoming 2025/26 season! This dynamic, season-long initiative invites London-based playwrights to dive into the heart of their craft, connect with fellow local writers, and boldly develop new work. For the upcoming season, we're expanding the Lab with two unique streams of participation — the Writing Currents: Tools and Exploration stream, designed to ignite new ideas and processes; and the Script Development Dramaturgy stream, focused on deepening and refining existing scripts. Whether you're starting fresh or polishing a passion project, the Cascade Playwrights’ Lab is your place to grow, experiment, and thrive within a supportive artistic community.
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Rachel Peake has a long history of new play development having worked as a dramaturge of plays, musical, and opera for over fifteen years. For five years she led Solo Collective Theatre, a Vancouver-based company that at the time produced exclusively new Canadian work. She led new play initiatives at the Citadel Theatre from 2017 to 2020 and conceived the Citadel’s first Collider Festival of New Works. For Gros Morne Summer Music Rachel oversaw the creation of twelve new pieces over four years.
The second pillar of the Artists in the Auburn series is a collection of workshops, hosted by some of Canada's most sought-after playwrights, actors, directors and producers, as well as the Grand's own Rachel Peake. Previous Workshops have included Playwriting with Mark Crawford, The Art of the Audition, with Rachel Peake, Expanding your Vocal Toolkit with Alexandra Kane, and more.
Workshops for the 24/25 season have finished. The 25/26 workshop schedule will be released soon!
SPEAKER SERIES
The third pillar of the Artists in the Auburn series is a speaker series, featuring a collection of local and national theatre artists engaging with special topics pertaining to those who choose theatre as a career, including The Business of Theatre and Theatre Tech 101. Stay connected with the Grand Theatre on social media, or keep a close eye on this page for more information about registering for the series!
RENTALS
The Auburn is available for rentals for independent and community productions as well as workshops, lectures, and other gatherings. If you have an event that engages with art and community, we would love to have you in our theatre! Reach out for more information at rentals [at] grandtheatre.com (rentals[at]grandtheatre[dot]com)
